About 30 deals to be signed during Putin’s visit to China — diplomat

Russian President Vladimir Putin is to visit China on June 25

BEIJING, June 21. /TASS/. Thirty agreements may be signed within the framework of the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to China, Russian Ambassador to Beijing Andrey Denisov told TASS on Tuesday.

"Each meeting of heads of our states is an event of global scale," Denisov said.

"Regarding the prepared visit, with the working part of the same to take place on June 25, we have a fairly significant list of over 30 projects on the table, which are at the early readiness stage so far," the Ambassador said.

"A serious block of political documents is prepared. I think it will be interesting for the international public. Documents on international policy, approaches and principles of such policy, and a Russia-China statement are prepared," Denisov said.

"Quite notable projects comprising new spheres of economic partnership are among prepared documents. For example, the ones related to participation of China’s companies in development of tourist resources of the North Caucasus," the Ambassador said.

"There is also a project on cooperation in production of surgery robots," Denisov said. "Speaking about absolutely new areas for interaction, then there is an agreement under preparation in such interesting sphere as ice hockey. We have certain achievements in this area and this kind of sport is becoming increasingly popular in China," he added.

The diplomat has pointed out that trade and economic relations between Russia and China were approaching a higher level.

"Quality of the trade and economic exchange is most important of us in conditions of deteriorating global economy. We note here that exchange of investment projects is replacing simple trade in goods, contemplating longer cycle of economic relations in each project. Investment projects anticipate financial relations, interbank cooperation, technical collaboration and cooperation in sales of ready products, particularly on third country markets," the Ambassador said.

"These are definitely positive and more developed economic relations, comparing to simple exchange of goods. This is what we should aim at," Denisov said.

China’s export to Russia grew 4.4% year-on-year in the first four months of 2016 to $9.8 bln. Import of Russian goods in China declined 2.8% year-on-year to $10 bln.

Legal framework of bilateral relations

The diplomat noted that over the years, Russia and China had formed a legal framework for their bilateral relations making it possible to accelerate the development of the trade and economic cooperation.

"Over the past two decades, including in recent years, we have formed the regulatory framework. Together we signed all sorts of documents at the intergovernmental level regulating the rules of building relations between our two countries in practical cooperation areas. To date, this regulatory framework has already been formed. Now we have agreed to play by the rules and are beginning to score goals, that is, to fill the regulatory framework with specific content," the ambassador said, adding that "the regulatory framework continues to improve, as this process is permanent."

"For example, we are getting ready for signing a number of documents aimed at easing the terms of trade in goods, in particular, simplifying customs control procedures. Simplifying permit procedures related to trade in agricultural products, both plant and animal products, is very important," Denisov said.

"A notable trend last year was the growth of agricultural products, including in Russia’s exports to the Chinese market," he noted. "This makes us happy, and we are going to support this trend in every possible way. We are talking about agricultural raw materials, particularly, large-scale supplies of Russian wheat to China and exports of our finished products and goods that are rated highly in China both in terms of quality and taste preferences. The most important thing here is that we ourselves should not damage our good’s reputation among Chinese consumers.".